Green and Healthy Summer Eating
The food landscape in East Harlem is improving, but access to healthy food remains a challenge for many in the community. According to a 2016 report —
“Although East Harlem is blessed with a multitude of organizations and individuals dedicated to improving local food environments and reducing food insecurity and diet-related diseases, these two problems are still more common in our community than in other New York City neighborhoods.” Eating in East Harlem: An Assessment of Changing Foodscapes in Community District 11, 2000-2015 CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
All year long, LSA’s programs work to provide families with healthy food choices and recipes that they can recreate at home.
Here are a few things happening at LSA this summer:
Thanks to NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene we received 200 $2 Health Bucks for our clients to spend on fruits and vegetables at the local farmers’ markets. This July 2017, Rosa Uribe took clients to the The Mount Sinai Hospital Greenmarket to shop for healthy produce.
Each summer, visitors to our food pantry enjoy fresh local produce, thanks to a partnership with Local Produce Link through Just Food and United Way of New York City. This year, the produce comes from Whistle Down Farms. The squash and zucchini (below) and the kale in the photo above all came from the farm.
Even closer to home – we’ve been thrilled to receive food donations from Pleasant Village Community Garden, located right here in East Harlem!
To share ideas on delicious ways to prepare all that beautiful produce from Whistle Down Farms, Delma from Food Bank For New York City recently did a cooking demonstration in our lobby. Families visiting our pantry and other programs sampled a warm kale and potato salad, and got the recipe to try at home.